Putting Together a New System

[Bovinicus]

My friend has asked me to assist him in selecting the parts of his next computer. There is a strict budget of $925. An entire computer and a monitor is needed. The peripherals such as the keyboard, mouse, or speakers are unecessary. Also, he already has a CD-RW. A sound card with good recording and playback quality is necessary, but not all kinds of inputs/outputs. Gaming will be a significant part of this computer's use, but not it's main purpose. A DVD-ROM is wanted as well. Overclocking is also desired, but nothing too crazy. Just a 10-15% overclock at most. 256MB of memory is minimum. 40GB of HDD storage is minimum as well. I have no preference between Intel and AMD, but AMD still seems to be a little cheaper to me. Please use the parts and prices that they have at www.newegg.com because that is where I am ordering from. Shipping to Maryland included, it must be meet the budget.

Here is what I was thinking so far:
Enlight 7237 w/340W
Shuttle AK31A (Possibly IWill XP333)
AMD Athlon XP 1800+
ATi Radeon 7500
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Seagate 40GB
Samsung 17"

Something along those lines. If you have any changes to the parts I mentioned or suggestions for the ones I didn't, then let me know! However, please support why you select that part so I can weigh the pros and cons of this part for this person a little better. Thank you for your help. =)

 

[Bovinicus]

Ok, I just put together a system meeting the specifications I mentioned. If you think it's good or have some suggestions for other parts then let me know.

Case: Enlight EN-72370A ($60)
PSU: Sparkle 340W (Included with case)
Motherboard: Skuttle AK31A ($72)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1700+ OEM ($110)
Heatsink: Vantec CCK-6027D ($18)
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 3 ($6)
Shim: Thermaltake ($5)
Memory: Crucial PC2100 256MB ($78)
Video: ATi Radeon 7500 OEM ($86)
Sound: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz OEM ($61)
Modem: Creative Labs 56K v.92 ($20)
HDD: Seagata Baracuda IV 60GB ($98)
DVD: Pioneer 16x Slot ($53)
Floppy: Panasonic ($8)
Monitor: Samsung 753DF ($159)
Shipping: Express Saver ($86)

Total: $920

 

[WarCon]

What you have there looks pretty good. Do you have a spare 80mm case fan for the back of the case? You might want one to vent the extra heat from the overclock.

 

[cholley]

i have just bought some processors and found the 1700+ retail was only about $20 more than oem and comes with heatsink and fan

 

[CubicZirconia]

Yes, but the retail heatsinks arn't very good. Hence, overclocking is minimal on retail setups.

 

[Bovinicus]

<< Do you have a spare 80mm case fan for the back of the case? >>

Actually, yes I do. I have the fan from my Enlight case. I replaced mine with two better ones. So, it will even match his. =)

 

[jcmkk]

I think you should get a cheaper sound card. A Hercules Fortissmo II maybe. Take the $30 you saved from downgrading the sound card and get find a good deal on a GeForce 3 Ti 200 or a Radeon 8500 (check the hot deals forum). Trust me, he'll notice the difference in the better graphics card much more than a somewhat better sound card.